A few weeks ago when chef Rick Bayless from Chicago came to San Francisco for the International Association of Cooking Professionals conference, he was quoted as saying there wasn’t much in the way of Mexican food in the Bay Area outside the taquerias.

Bayless is one of the country’s top experts on Mexican cuisine, writing several books, appearing on chef-oriented television shows and owning such places as Frontera Grill and Topolobampo in Chicago.

A few years ago I would have agreed with him. When people asked what was missing in Bay Area dining, I’d say that if I were going to open a restaurant here it would be Mexican, because no one was doing the cuisine justice.

However in the last couple of years, the situation has gotten decidedly better, with the opening of Mamacita, Nopalito, Comal in Berkley, Mateo’s in Healdsburg and Nido (which I will review in a couple of weeks). All these have one element in common: They practice the local and sustainable model used in most of Northern California top restaurants. You can taste the difference, and they have given proper props to a cuisine that for years languished here.

It’s a sister restaurant to Mamacita, which currently resides on the Top 100 Bay Area Restaurants list; you can expect Padrecito to be added next year. The restaurant follows the same pattern as at Mamacita, where much of the fresh produce comes from from the family garden of chef/owner Sam Josi.

What is impressive about Padrecito is that Josi and chef Luis Contreras didn’t replicate the same model as at the flagship. At Padrecito, the offerings are more casual and focused; the biggest part of the menu is devoted to tacos, but not the expected ones. For example, there’s pulled duck with arbol strawberry marmalade, black beans, chicories and Dry Jack cheese.There’s also the popular chilaquiles, but the tortillas are doused in such things as chipotle mole with duck carnitas, kale, spring onions and fava beans.

In addition, there’s an interesting cocktail list. The bartenders are adept at the classics, but what I found particularly innovative is the illustrated cocktail list with a dozen cocktails. The illustration shows the type of glass the drink will be served in and the proportion of each ingredient, so you know how sweet or boozy the cocktail will be.

Padrecito and the other new-wave Mexican restaurants are giving Mexican cuisine the respect it deserves, rather than being content to replicate the stereotypes that for decades have pigeonholed a great, diverse culture.